The present invention relates to a projectile provided with a cooled nose cone. More specifically, the present invention relates to a projectile, particularly a kinetic energy projectile, provided with a cooled nose cone, wherein the projectile accommodates a payload, particularly a penetrator, and wherein the nose cone includes a thin-walled metal hood provided on its exterior surface with a thermal insulation layer, and having its interior surface in contact with a heat transfer medium.
Such a projectile, for example an intercontinental missile or the like, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,682,100; its nose is provided with a metal hood of molybdenum or steel that is coated on the exterior with ceramic or glass. On the interior, the hood is in contact with lithium hydride which has a low melting point and therefore liquefies when heated and is endothermally dissociated. Lithium present in metal form also becomes liquid and is circulated by means of a pump and is in this way brought into contact with the hydrogen, which was generated by the dissociation, for recombination in the side region of the projectile to be then returned to the nose cone region as lithium hydride. Such a cooling system is very expensive and not suitable for projectiles, such as kinetic energy projectiles, that are used in combat.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,200,750 discloses a projectile nose cone that is provided with a metal hood that is covered with blocks of ceramic material or fiber reinforced plastic. On the exterior, the blocks are provided with brush-like bristles of an endothermally decomposable plastic material such as melamine, phenol resins or nylon. These bristles evaporate before the blocks of ceramic material. Aside from the fact that such a structure is expensive, and although it is possible to thereby reduce the heat intake of the metal hood, no further heat dissipation is provided.
European Application EP-OS 0,359,455, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,561, discloses the provision of a cork layer on the exterior of the metal casing of a rocket engine. This cork layer is covered by an exterior layer of fiber reinforced polymer material while on the interior an insulating layer is disposed between the casing and the solid fuel so as to protect the solid fuel against excessive heating.